An accountant acting for Michael Lowry was taken to Doncaster while on a trip to England to view properties owned by Mr Lowry, the tribunal heard.
Additionally, the accountant, Denis O'Connor, had not given documents concerning Mr Lowry's properties in England to the tribunal. The documents included letters and agreements concerning disputes relating to the properties which had been drafted by Mr O'Connor.
Mr O'Connor, a partner with Brophy Butler Thornton, Dublin, said that he could not see the relevance of the documents to the tribunal's inquiries. He said that Mr Lowry may have been given copies of some of the documents.
Mr O'Connor had, at the time in 2001, been helping Mr Lowry with his dealings with the tribunal. The tribunal heard that in 2001 he told it in evidence that his attitude was "if in doubt, bring it in here", meaning the tribunal.
The tribunal is investigating whether Mr Lowry had any link with the Doncaster deal, which Denis O'Brien has said was exclusively his.
Mr O'Brien has said that he had no link with property deals in Cheadle and Mansfield which involved Mr Lowry and Mr O'Brien's accountant, Aidan Phelan, which are also being investigated by the tribunal.
In a letter to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2002, Northern Ireland businessman Kevin Phelan said that he had been told by Aidan Phelan (no relation) that he, Aidan Phelan, was acting as agent in four property transactions in England for Mr O'Brien and "another". The property transactions were in Doncaster, Cheadle and Mansfield, and one in Altrincham.
Mr O'Connor agreed that, to his knowledge, the only other person involved with any of the properties was Mr Lowry.
Mr O'Connor told Jerry Healy SC, for the tribunal, that in 2001 he went to England to view properties owned by Mr Lowry in the context of their having come to the attention of the tribunal.
In England he was met by Kevin Phelan, who identifies and manages property deals in England. Mr Phelan, who was involved in all the property deals being investigated by the tribunal, brought Mr O'Connor to the properties in Cheadle and Mansfield with which Mr Lowry had an involvement.
He also brought Mr O'Connor to see the Doncaster property.
Mr O'Connor said that the property was of no interest to him and he felt Mr Phelan wanted to show him the sort of projects he was involved in. "If I had known what Doncaster was leading to, I'd have jumped out of the car," he said.
Mr O'Connor said that he was initially representing Mr Lowry in discussions he had with Mr Phelan concerning disputes linked to the English property deals in 2001. A few months later, after nothing had happened to resolve the disputes, he was called by Mr Phelan and asked if he, Mr O'Connor, could help to resolve disputes Mr Phelan had with Aidan Phelan in relation to the property deals.
When he was shown an agreement dated September 2001, signed by Kevin Phelan and Mr O'Connor, Mr O'Connor said that he was acting for Mr Lowry, and Aidan Phelan, and trying to resolve a dispute with Kevin Phelan, when he had signed the agreement.
Aidan Phelan has told the tribunal that Mr O'Connor had no authority to come to an agreement with Kevin Phelan on his behalf. Mr O'Connor said that as far as he was concerned he did have Aidan Phelan's authority.
The agreements which were drawn up by Kevin Phelan and Mr O'Connor would have had Kevin Phelan being paid stg£225,000 in fees in relation to properties in Cheadle and Mansfield which had cost Mr Lowry and Aidan Phelan £775,000 and which were to be sold at a loss. The draft agreements were silent in relation to Doncaster and Altrincham, concerning which Kevin Phelan was also in dispute with Aidan Phelan over fees. In the event, the properties were never sold and the fees outlined in the agreement were not paid.
Mr O'Connor will continue his evidence on Tuesday.
